Game of the Week: St. Augustine at Cathedral Catholic

Against their biggest rival and with Qualcomm Stadium in their sites Friday night, Cathedral Catholic delivered their most complete performance of the season. The result was a dominant 42-3 win over St. Augustine and a third consecutive trip to the Division III finals.

“Our kids are hungry,” said Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle. “They wanted to get back and they played a great game.”

The Dons defense set the tone on the opening drive of the game when defensive back Eric Sapp picked off Evan Crower and returned it 14 yards for a score. Less than a minute later, teammate Brien Moynihan intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.

“We like to fly to the ball and when we get a turnover we take it to the house,” said Cathedral Catholic linebacker Jordan Lance. “It was nice to see the 14 points set up pretty easy for us.”

When Cathedral Catholic’s offense took the field for the first time after a Saints punt, they already had a 14-0 lead to work with. The Dons offense added to that lead with a 19-play drive capped off by a Jonny Martin five-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

“When you’re up 14-0 and your offense hasn’t stepped on the field, it fires you up,” Doyle said.

St. Augustine (9-4) got on the board midway through the second quarter with a Paul Hundley field goal. But with 1:17 left in the half, Martin punched it in from one-yard out and the Dons had a more than decisive 28-3 lead at halftime.

“We were all fired up from the beginning,” Sapp said. “Right from the get go we knew we were going to play this type of game – we knew it was going to be a blowout.”

In the second half, Cathedral Catholic quarterback Max Brewer connected twice for touchdowns with receiver Chance Early and the Dons defense pitched a shutout. The Dons’ eventual 39-point Holy Bowl win was far more lopsided than their 17-14 win over St. Augustine last month.

“The first game we see them it was a close game,” Lance said. “The second time we fixed some things, just fine tune it and take it to another level.”

With their fourth straight win over St. Augustine, top-seed Cathedral Catholic (11-1) advances to their third straight Division III title game, next Friday at Qualcomm Stadium. The Dons face third-seed Point Loma (9-3) in a rematch of the 2007 Division III championship.

“We’re looking for that three-peat. Not many teams three-peat and it would be nice to do it,” Lance said. “Catch us in the stadium we’ll do it again.”

Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle gets the ice water shower in the waning moments